


Cassandra Hates Harry

by comicxgrl



Series: A Story of Harry and Cassandra [1]
Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Canon Related, F/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28655727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comicxgrl/pseuds/comicxgrl
Summary: The one where Cassandra and Harry relationship are more than we know.
Relationships: Harry Bingham & Cassandra Pressman, Harry Bingham/Cassandra Pressman
Series: A Story of Harry and Cassandra [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100078
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Cassandra Hates Harry

Cassandra remembers seeing her mother smile in support and then leave her alone at the classroom door.

"Come dear, we will choose a place for you" the tall teacher says. Cassandra reaches out her teacher's hand. The other children were quiet when they entered, some run to sit in their seats. "Where do you want to sit, Cassandra?"

Cassandra looks around, her cousin Campbell is at the back of the class, there's a seat next to him but Cassandra prefers to sit in the front. Turns out that the seat she wanted to take is right behind a curly-haired boy.

The boy's backpack has a drawing of Barney & Friends, she realizes, and Cassandra's previous fear is gone.

"I like this show!" The boy turns around at the sound of her voice. "My name is Cassandra" she remains a little excited about the chance to make a friend.

He opens his mouth but someone yells:  
"Harry has a girlfriend!"

Cassandra's eyes widen and when she looks at the boy - Harry, he says:  
"I don't have a girlfriend!" and pulls the bangs from Cassandra's hair to check it out.

After the teacher manages to separate them, Cassandra is indignant and with tears in her eyes.

The next day, Harry sits next to Campbell and Cassandra sits in the chair opposite the teacher. Everyone forgets what happened but Cassandra promise never speak to Harry again in her life.

***

Cassandra honors all the promises she made. Even at 6 years old, she thought that promises are of a very serious matter, that you do with all your heart and feel that they will last forever. It is a rule, and rules can’t be broken.

However, Cassandra thinks that whoever invented this rule didn’t count on the existence of Harry Bingham.

She deservedly earns a gold star for being the most participative student in the class, which made her feel immensely happy, until Harry - who could, in Cassandra's view, be a Disney villain - throws her notebook on the floor . So she’s forced to break her promise and speak to him - and by speaking, can be understood as screaming.

She learns too quickly that no matter how many promises she makes, being about Harry, none of them will be kept.

Harry seemed committed to making his dislike for Cassandra clear, he constantly pulls her hair out, throws her favorite colored pencils on the floor and makes a joke about her being one of Snow White's dwarves. Which is not fair - she is the same height as other children - and she is a girl. She tries to affirm this many times.

Sometimes she cries at home on the lap of her sister, Allie. Allie is younger, but a year apart doesn't mean much to them. They constantly console each other, either because a theft of cookies from the kitchen didn't turn out well or because an evil boy is tearing up her drawings at school. Allie is her support in everything.

Cassandra holds Allie's hand when her parents explain that Cassandra has congenital heart disease.

Not that Cassandra understood what it means, but it does require her to have constant consultations at the hospital and take white pills that make her suffocate. And there were demands that she needed to go through such as the rule of not eating sweets before lunch. Her mother was strict, she had to take it, period.

So, Harry is not the worst thing that happens to Cassandra. Although he’s disputing the first place a lot.

Cassandra, with her infantile mind, thinks that no one will want to be her friend now, so she doesn't try to get close to anyone.

The other children talk to her sometimes, after all, she is the one who does all the work; distributes the sheets of paper for drawings; reminds the teacher of the breaktime or homework; and says who was making a mess in class - Harry and Campbell most of the time; Which she thinks is ridiculous cause the teacher is the kindest and smartest figure she knows, even more than Mom, and she would never act like them.

But the point is: the whole class knows her, but no one is friend of her. And she doesn't really care, she has Allie and knows that she will soon learn to read, her father always says that books are people's best friends, so Cassandra would have many friends, at home.

***

She is 10 years old when she finds out that she loves theater.

The school wants to perform a play of "Alice in Wonderland" and Cassandra had to hold on to the table when she imagined herself in a blue dress, with her blond hair down and full of wonderful friends in a magical land of her own. She wants the role like she never wanted anything in her life.

She spends the night reading the lines, trying to record them. It's tiring, but it's worth it, she would be Alice. Cassandra leaves the stage happily, her happiness only increases when the other students congratulate her.

The problem is that Harry would be The Hatter, Alice's best friend, and worst of all: in the end they would have to kiss. On the cheek, but still.

The look of horror on Harry's face when the teacher told him to kiss Cassandra's cheek was mirrored by her.

"But she’s a girl!" Harry says as if explains everything.

"Come on kids" The teacher didn't care a bit and Cassandra is almost freaking out.

Harry stands in front of her as he's going to do it and she closes her eyes. She feels something wet touch her cheek for a millisecond and then go, there is a chorus for the “hmmmm” theater almost immediately and Cassandra wants to die, like right there. When she opens her eyes, Harry isn't looking at her.

Cassandra comes home and makes a point of washing her face with a lot of soap cause Harry is disgusting.

***

The play is a success, all parents buy tickets, all students hold hands on stage to end the performance amid applause from proud parents - Luke's mother cries, even if he plays a tree.

Harry was at Cassandra's side so they were forced to hold hands, not even that takes away her joy. She loves the theater and would do it forever. This is a promise that she will keep.

***  
Cassandra is in love.

She was watching tv when suddenly a music video of cute boys singing and Cassandra is addicted to it. Always at 12:00 p.m. on MTV and that time becomes sacred to her. Sometimes her father leaves the TV on the channel and the clip goes on at random, these are Cassandra's favorite days.

She can read the name of the group once - One Direction - and asks her father to turn on the computer because she desperately wants to know more. They are all beautiful and cute, but there was one that made Cassandra's little heart jump, it's the first time she doesn't think a boy is disgusting.

She is completely in love with him. Until-

Cassandra's mother watches with concern when her daughter stops talking and looks at the screen, with that same look when she found out she couldn't have a puppy at home: Totally heartbroken.

"Are you alright, Cass?" Questions with fear, cassandra shakes her head, turns off the screen with her finger and goes up the stairs quietly. When the mother turns on the computer screen, she laughs at the research that her daughter had done “Name of the most beautiful singer in One Direction” and is surprised when, scrolling the page, she saw what probably left her daughter so devastated: his name is Harry.

Even so, Cassandra smiles when she gets a poster with the Harry Styles photo highlighted.

***  
Harry wants to be the class representative. Cassandra thinks he just wants it to piss her off.

She wants to be the class representative. Logically, she has been a representative since the age of 6, it just changes now that sometimes she has to go to the director's office.

All teachers know their conflicting relationship, so they decide to make a decision by voting. Cassandra was sure she would lose cause Harry had a lot of friends, but she still tries. Harry promised things like juice instead of water at the drinking fountain and the end of homework - absurd. She promises to get more school trips and listen to people's suggestions.

At the end of the day, Cassandra winns.

When she finds out she looks at the class and says "Thank you" with a maturity that doesn't match her age.

She gets a pin and feels a little like Hermione Granger.

A week later, Harry enters the theater and asks to be part of the last elementary school play.

***  
The last year is strange.

The boys are no longer disgusting. She doesn't know exactly when that changes, but all the girls are now whispering and smiling when one of them passes. Even she feels blushing when one of them says "Thank you Cassandra" after she delivers some work at the teacher's request.

Cassandra feels hopeful when her mother says that her body is changing, she thinks that maybe her heart will work properly, it doesn't take long for her to find out that isn’t it.

This whole change is weird. To worse, Harry becomes the most popular boy at school; ridiculous.

Okay, when she understands the concepts of rich and poor, she admitted that he is really rich. But that shouldn't be a criterion. She says this to Allie once, her sister laughs and with red cheeks says that Harry is just beautiful. Cassandra swears that she could throw up.

He's not pretty, he's...annoying, poorly created, pampered and inconvenient. He's awful! As they learn this year, one of the plagues of Egypt.

But it doesn't matter what Cassandra thinks because suddenly all the affairs between the girls is: Harry, Harry, Harry.

The most hateful year for Cassandra.

It is also the year that she realizes that she has a scar on her chest due to the countless cardiac surgeries she has done over the years. She doesn't think she’s ugly, in fact she knows that she’s at least a little pretty, but that scar...is the first time that Cassandra looks in the mirror and feels sad.

***  
Next year they would be in high school, so a school dance seems ideal. The girls received invitations from boys and is easy to know when happened: there was a hysteria of soft voices laughing and a chorus of high voices screaming.

Happens in the middle of the room: Harry asks Kelly to go with him.

A huge shouting starts because Harry and Kelly are the most popular people at that school and it makes perfect sense that they should go together. Cassandra still surprised. When she looks back, she’s even more surprised because amid applause and screams, Harry - hugging Kelly - is looking at her. It's really confusing.

Cassandra doesn't go.

***  
Cassandra becomes president of the student council.

Nobody really talks about it, the class is basically the same, with a maximum of 10 new students. Cassandra already is the room representative anyway, no one seems surprised when she takes on a bigger role.

Even so, Harry rolls his eyes and then, looking at him, in the best provocative tone Cassandra asks:

"Something to say, Harry?"

And he makes an unfriendly signal with his hand.

Harry didn't learn to lose to her.

Athe theater, the neutral zone between them, is not unscathed by offenses, irony, and name-calling. Harry becomes more and more toxic, Cassandra can't even hear the sound of his breath without wanting to punch him.

Anyway, Cassandra doesn't let Harry ruin the theater for her. She needs the points, Yale doesn't accept anyone easily for God's sake, but she also really likes the stage. So she supports his presence.

Allie is also part of the theater and Cassandra has the impression that she still haven't forgotten the "He's beautiful” phase, which makes no sense and makes her want alert her sister about his attitude problems.

***  
Helena calls her to a party.

Cassandra isn’t invited to parties, people stopped trying after a year. She simply knows that she will not have fun, the drink cuts off the effect of her medication which would be a risk to her life, so, no drinking. And who goes to a party full of 17 year olds without drinking?

"Cassandra please, it will be cool" Helena says and Cassandra smiles at her considering. At least that time.

***  
“Cassandra! What did we do to have the honor of your presence? ” Harry, of course, is at the party.

"Nice see you too, Harry" She replies as politely as she can. Harry standing on the couch.

"You two, not today, please" Becca says looking from one to the other "let's all just relax, okay?"

Harry shrugs and sits on the couch, Cassandra sighs, but sits next to him - as far away as possible - as a sign of peace.

Becca looked at them

"Good" she says

"Hey!" Campbell's voice "Harry...and Cassandra! I think that moment deserves a photo”

"Campbell, no " Cassandra says and lowers her head. Campbell having already taken his phone out of his pocket, a smile when he takes the photo, Harry looks at him.

"It's a great idea, let's all take a lot of photos!" Elle screams as she raises her cup and people follow.

"Your sister's in the kitchen” said Harry to Cassandra butting in. She thinks about addressing, but maybe it was just his way of sending her away.

"Have fun" she says when gets up to find Allie.

The photo thing really continues throughout the night, in the beginning people are posing, preparing for the camera. But at a certain moment, the cell phone only passes from hand to hand, meaningless photos of people.

It was in one of those moments that she and Harry left in two more pictures together. In Cassandra's defense, she was in the hallway waiting for Allie when Harry appears - more drunk than hours ago.

He is smiling when he sees her “Cassandra, are you still here!"

"I am" He staggered to her side.

"Are you good" He says, it was something so impulsive that Cassandra takes time to react, was it a compliment?

"...Thanks?" The idea of a drunk Harry praising her appearance is so ridiculous that it makes Cassandra laugh.

She takes two steps with the intention of walking away, someone spills drink on her shirt and doesn't even look back. The shirt is transparent, and Cassandra remembers the scar that will be visible. She holds the cloth and pulls it away from her chest.

Harry is looking at her.  
Allie and Campbell appeared.

"What happened?" Allie asks immediately.

"Someone spilled me a drink” Cassandra replies. Campbell of all people, takes off his black shirt as if it were something everyday, as if the fact that they are cousins only touched him now.

"Here, Cass" a shiver goes through when Campbell speaks, she is about to deny it but Allie takes it from him first.

She puts the shirt over hers

"Thank you Campbell" she says. Campbell smiles weirdly before pulling Harry by the neck and going to what she thinks is the pool.

"Did Harry spill booze on you?" Allie asks and Cassandra deny with her head. She no longer has the patience to stay at the party. Allie offers to go home together, but Cassandra knows that she wants to be with Will so when she manages to convince her she heads to the lobby.

The house is noisy in all rooms, except there.

"Wait!" She turns and sees Gordie running, cell phone in hand.

"I really-"

"Just one more, please, Becca’s order" He adds, Cassandra sighs and agrees. She positions herself a few steps in front of the exit door, she knows that the photo probably to be a little blurry cause Gordie shakes her hand but doesn't complain.

The next day, when Becca sends the photos, she sees Harry in most of them. Cassandra inexplicably doesn’t delete them, but marks them as "hidden" in her gallery.

***  
Harry appears hungover in the play rehearsal. He simply crosses the corridors, tells them to turn off the lights and lies down on one of the chairs as if he were a king.

He looked like shit.

"The play is only a week away, what are you thinking?!"

The terrible smell that had infested the city was gone, they were finally going to reopen the theater and Harry - who struggled all summer to take the lead - appears without seeming able to not throw up.

“For God's sake, go fuck yourself” He says quietly holding his head in his hands and closes eyes.

“Why did you come like this? Are you ever sober?”

Harry opens his eyes.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't ruin your precious play." harry picks up the backpack and gets up.

"Where are you going?" Cassandra raises her voice and hears the murmur behind her, they are making a scene she knows.

“Home” he say walking as best he can

"You have to rehearse the do-"

He turns around, there is a distance between them.

“I'm going to rehearse” and he slams out the door.

***

These memories come to her when she tries to remember life before New Ham. Before they are trapped in a city without adults, without democracy.

Harry Bingham has been questioning all her lines ever since they appeared in this wrong world. Harry, who refused to help, gave up his home, or made it clear that he doesn’t want to be the leader, no next to her.

She thinks about how they are messy kids who refuse to grow up.

She thinks of Harry, too late, when she’s alone, bleeding and the darkness engulfs her.


End file.
